April 3rd
by Sofya29
Summary: April 3rd was a special day. It was the day Naruto fell in love with Sakura.


Happy NaruSaku Day !

I'm sorry for the mistakes, English is not my mother tongue. I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer : **_Naruto_ belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

_**April 3rd**_

Naruto entered into the academy, running, eager to start his first day. He had anticipated everything. He would become a great ninja and then he would become Hokage. He would be able to surpass the fourth Hokage, his hero. Naruto looked at the students in the school-yard. He already knew some of them that he had seen in the village. They were with their friends and they were having fun. Naruto came up to the other children, but they all moved away from him or they ignored him. His head fell. He should have known it. Why would things be different here ? A group of girls ran next to him and Naruto felt someone bumped into him and he fell on the ground.

'I'm sorry. Are you okay ?'

He looked up and saw a girl squatting in front of him. She had pink hair, held back by a red ribbon, and big green eyes. She looked at him curiously. His heart skipped a beat, his hands were moist and he felt his cheeks heat up. It was the first time he saw such a beautiful vision. Before he had time to answer, a blonde girl came running.

'Come on Sakura ! Hurry up !'

Without looking at Naruto, she caught hold of Sakura by the hand and pulled her to her feet. Both ran off. Naruto sat on the ground staring at Sakura. Sakura. A name that suited her perfectly. She was as beautiful as the flower of which she was named after, Naruto thought. He blushed a little more. So that's what you feel when you fall in love ?

April 3rd was the day Naruto fell in love with Sakura.

**~ 00 ~**

One year later Naruto was more in love with Sakura than ever. He had decided to celebrate this first anniversary. He had bought a rose with the money he had saved and put a pink ribbon around it. Even if Sakura did not speak to him and that everything he did seemed to annoy her, he knew deep down that his gift would please her. For once, Naruto arrived early at the academy. He waited impatiently for Sakura and when she arrived, he rose from his chair and stood in front of her. He handed her the rose and said happily :

'Happy anniversary Sakura-chan !'

Sakura took the rose and looked at it curiously.

'What anniversary ? What are you talking about you idiot ?'

Naruto did not answer. He smiled and went back to sit down. He looked at Sakura from the corner of his eye, she discreetly smelled the rose before putting it on her desk. At the end of the day, Naruto saw that Sakura still had the rose with her, which made him happy.

It had become a tradition for Naruto. Every year, on April 3rd, he offered a rose with a ribbon around it to Sakura. Even if he annoyed her, even if all her attention was turned to Sasuke, she still accepted the rose that Naruto offered her. The only time he had not respected his tradition was when he was away with Jiraya. So when he came back to Konoha, he gave her two more roses.

'One for every year I missed,' he said.

Sakura accepted the roses, smiling. Naruto blushed. It was the first time she smiled to him like that.

'I missed your roses.'

Sakura smelled the scent of roses. Naruto scratched his nose, still blushing, he could not help smiling. Sakura had thought of him when he was away. April 3rd was becoming an important day for her too.

A year had passed since the end of the fourth great war. Naruto and Sakura spent more time together. The ordeals they got over, had brought them closer and Naruto could not imagine living another day without Sakura. This year, when he gave his rose, Sakura asked him :

'Naruto, you never told me why you always give me a rose on April 3rd.'

It was true that he had never told her the reason. When she asked him why when they were children, he smiled at her saying it was an anniversary. Only he knew it, but the mere sight of Sakura's smile when she accepted his rose made him happy and it was enough for him. It was like a secret that he had kept deep down all those years. Naruto felt embarrassed. What would Sakura think ? Would it please her ? Or would she find it ridiculous ?

'You'll think that it's stupid,' he said.

'I will not.'

Naruto looked down and took a deep breath. His heart quickened and he knew that what he was going to confess to Sakura was going to change his life. He looked up at Sakura again and took her hand. He looked at her so intensely that she blushed.

'April 3rd is the day I fell in love with you.'

Sakura opened her eyes wide and her breathing quickened. Naruto continued speaking, it was as if he could not stop. He needed to tell her everything.

'It was our first day at the academy. We were in the school-yard and you were playing with Ino. You bumped into me and I fell on the ground. When I looked up, you were there and I found you so beautiful. You asked me if I was okay. It was the first time anyone asked me if I was okay, or worried about me. At that moment, I fell in love with you. You mustn't remember.

'I remember, Sakura murmured, which surprised Naruto. So when you talked about an anniversary ...'

Naruto nodded.

'But I was so mean to you at that time.'

'At this moment, I saw your heart and since then, I love you a little more every day. I know, it's stupid.'

Naruto smiled, but his heart was not in it. It was the time that Sakura was going to tell him that she had no feelings for him and that they were just friends. He had been prepared for it for a long time, but the pain was nonetheless intense. He wanted to let go of Sakura's hand, but she stopped him. She got closer to him and put her other hand on his cheek. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she was smiling.

'It's not stupid,' she said. 'This is the most beautiful thing that somebody said to me.'

She stroked his cheek with her thumb and Naruto trembled.

'When Kyubi was taken away from you, I was so afraid of losing you. At that moment, I only thought of keeping you alive. And when I had your heart in my hand, I had never been so frightened because if I would have lost you, I would never have survived. So I understood that what I had taken for friendship, was love.'

Sakura approached again and Naruto could feel the warmth of her body against his, her breathing taking the same rhythm as his and her lips rubbing his.

'I love you Naruto.'

They kissed. Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tight. He needed to feel her to realize that he was not dreaming and that everything was real. That Sakura loved him as much as he loved her. He had never been so happy.

April 3rd was a special day. It was the day Naruto fell in love with Sakura. It was also the day Sakura had confessed her love to Naruto.

_**The end**_


End file.
